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Intuition vs. Analysis: Contemporary Thinking
on Design Management Decision Making
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| Fanny Cabanne |
By Fanny Cabanne
This year’s conference focused on the role of intuition and
analysis in decision making processes in the design world. Throughout
the lectures and the discussions, a few common themes emerged, in
particular the complementary role of intuition and analysis in shaping
design decisions, processes, and goods and services.
The conference began in a lively way, with a panel discussion that
helped the participants dive into the conference theme and start
interacting with one another by discussing the risks of managing
design in difficult times. Earl Powell invited Cathy Huang, marketing
director of GE/Fitch in Shanghai; Fanny Cabanne, in charge of program
development at Design Continuum in Milan; and (last but not least)
Paul W. Porter, director of corporate design and usability at Kodak,
to participate in this panel.
The first day of presentations gave an interesting German-French
perspective. Professor Bernd Schmitt of Columbia Business School
began the morning sessions with a presentation on his exciting work
on customer experience management. Bernhard Wild, charismatic chairman
of Braun, followed, sharing with us his experience of a design oriented
multinational company that was able to translate hidden consumer
needs into successful design. In the afternoon, Anne Asensio, executive
director of design at General Motors (who greatly contributed to
Renault’s product develop ment with the very successful Megane
Scenic, Clio and Twingo) discussed the development of the form language
of the different brands at General Motors. Bertrand Raison, strategy
director at Saguez & Partners in Paris, then gave an entertaining
presentation of their work for Peugeot and the concept of Peugeot
Avenue, with the objective of enhancing the customer experience
of the brand in a changing market (the deregulation of the European
automotive industry).
The afternoon concluded with the renowned visual designer, Helmut
Langer, who presented his work in the form of an appeal to designers,
asking them to work toward supporting a necessary global effort
for sustainable development and collective responsibility. His refreshing
intervention reminded the participants that we do live in a threatened
world and should therefore act accordingly.
The next morning was Italian, starting with a speech by Ernesto
Gismondi, president and managing director of Artemide, which he
co-founded in 1959. In his perfect Oxford English, this aeronautical
engineer (!) explained how the success of Artemide is based more
on his personal choices (from the selection of design partners,
such as Michele DeLucchi and Norman Foster, to the product development
itself) than on any market study. This very specific approach, based
on relationships and intuition, characterizes contemporary Italian
design, as Roberto Verganti from the Politecnico di Milano showed
in his enlightening presentation. Gianfranco Zaccai, CEO and co-founder
of Design Continuum in Boston, Milan and Seou,l concluded with a
summary of the advantages and shortcomings of this approach.
The last two lectures were just as good: Nate Young, partner of
TWISThink, proved how intuition and analysis are intimately linked
and actively feed each other. Finally, Alison Rieple (professor
of strategic management and director of research at the University
of Westminster) brilliantly concluded the conference with a lecture
on creativity in organizations and psychometric instruments to assess
one’s creative style.
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Manfred Wolf, Lord Mayor of Cologne, Earl Powell, and Brigitte
Wolf, professor at the KISD at the conference reception held
at historic Cologne City Hall.
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Many of the social activities at the event were organized by students
from the Köln International School of Design (KISD), under
the direction of professor Brigitte Wolf. Their ideas and efforts
greatly contributed to the pleasant atmosphere felt by all the attendees
throughout the event. On Sunday, students gave a guided tour of
Cologne, including a hike up the tower of the Cologne Cathedral
and a taste of the local Kölsh beer.
Monday evening’s reception was held in the Cologne City Hall,
and was attended by the Lord Mayor of Cologne. Tuesday’s presentations
were capped off by a reception at the KISD, complete with a design
exhibition organized by the students. Many thanks are due Professor
Wolf and the students for all their hard work. The main contributors
were Roderique Düll, Ole Cordua, and Nadine Bartz, with assistance
from Philipp Demel, Caroline Ortega, Anna Munktell, Barbara Wirtz,
Micheline Pollach, Ole Heydekamp, and Florian Weiss.
Those three days in Cologne were an exciting and enjoyable mixture
of inspiring lectures and successful networking, between diverse
people eager to share and learn from each other. Enriching exchanges
and a lot of fun characterized this event, and we all look forward
to the next European Conference!
Fanny Cabanne heads Programme Development
at Design
Continuum Italia Srl. Brigitte Wolf, Professor of Design, at
KISD contributed
to this article.
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